It is now commonplace for consumers to purchase goods via the Internet from retail websites or from other websites offering products for sale. Generally at such websites, consumers can peruse on-line catalogs of products that are available for sale, purchase selected products, and have the selected products delivered to them. Additionally, a growing trend among consumers is to purchase personal gifts via such websites and have the gifts shipped directly to a gift recipient. This is particularly true where the gift recipient resides at a location remote from the user purchasing the gift. In such instances, a consumer, or website user, is typically required to provide to the on-line retailer the shipping address of the gift recipient.
However, people frequently are in contact with one another via e-mail or other electronic means (e.g. instant messaging, personal websites, etc.) and often do not know the address at which another person resides or an associated shipping address. Thus, although the name and even a general location (e.g. city/state) of the recipient may be known, no specific shipping address or delivery location may be available. Therefore, without additional research or inquiry by the gift-giver, gift delivery may not be possible. Additionally, if at a loss for time or if the gift-giver wishes to surprise the gift recipient, such additional research (e.g. asking the gift recipient for his/her address) may not be possible.
In some instances, people may maintain anonymous relationships with one another. For example, on-line dating services often enable members to send messages or chat with one another using assumed names or pseudonyms so as to remain anonymous to one another. In such a setting, a first member may wish to send a gift to a second member whom he/she knows only by a pseudonym and who wishes to remain anonymous to the first member.
Embodiments of the invention enable a gift-giver to send a gift to a gift recipient even when the gift recipient's specific shipping or delivery address is unknown to the gift-giver.